Tracing implements



Jan. 30, 1968 G. F. RIGONDAUD 3,365,744

TRACING IMPLEMENTS Filed Oct. 23, 1965 United States Patent 3,365,744 TRAClNG IMPLEMEN'IS Guy Frederic Rigondaud, Paris, France, assignor to Societe E. Le Foyer & Cie, Paris, France, a French company Filed 0st. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 563,663 Claims priority, application France, Jan. 26, 1965,

The present invention relates to a tracin implement.

The tracing implement of the invention belongs to that type of implement in which the tracing member is constituted of a plurality of fine wires. In the known implements of this type the wires are arranged substantially parallel to form a bundle, and in the tracing operation the free ends of the wires forming the said bundle, which are arranged substantially perpendicularly to the writing surface, are applied to the said writing surface and moved along over it.

In contrast to the above, with the Writing implement of the invention the wires are arranged in such a way that their parts effecting the tracing are substantially tangential to the writing surface.

In one embodiment of the invention the wires are arranged to form a braid which is disposed in such a way that its mean line is substantially tangential to the surface of writing as far as concerns the part which is to carry out the actual tracing, i.e. substantially perpendicular to the general axis of the writing implement.

Said part is obtained in a particularly simple way by the bending of incurving of an ordinary braid, the mechanical characteristics of the latter then bringing about as a matter of course the formation of a rounded loop, the body of the implement being arranged in such a way that the rounded end part of the loop projects to enable the tracing to be undertaken.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of example only and in no restrictive sense.

FIGURE 1 shows a view on a large scale of the forward part of the writing implement of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 with part of the covering cut away.

FIGURE 3 is similar to FIGURE 2, but shows a variation wherein the braid is shown only by its frontal outline.

FIGURE 4 is a view in elevation, with parts broken away, and showing on a smaller scale a capsule of the invention which forms part of the implement.

FIGURE 5 is a view in longitudinal section without stopper and with the braid omitted for the sake of clarity of representation.

FIGURE 6 is a view from the front of the said capsule on a larger scale than in FIGURES 4 and 5.

FIGURE 7 is a view in longitudinal section of the body of the implement in which the capsule of FIGURES 3 to 5 can be disposed, the two parts forming the said body having been spaced apart from each other so as to make the representation clearer.

The forward part 10 of the implement of the invention has the customary tapered form and has an axial bore 11 said bore is cylindrical for the greater part of its length but Widens at its front (or lower) part to form a seat 12 that is substantially, frusto-conical, terminating in a cylindrical part 12', the diameter of which is larger than that of the bore 11.

In another embodiment of the invention which can be seen in FIGURE 3, the widening 40 of the channel 11, is frusto-conical to the extreme edge 41 and its height is less than that of the previous embodiment.

In the interior of the bore 11 in both embodiments there is housed a braid 13, the diameter of which is substantially half that of the cylindrical part of the said bore and which is disposed so as to form a first longitudinal strand 14 and a second longitudinal strand 15 placed adjacent to it and resulting from the bending of a braid of the customary elongated form, the said bending giving rise to a connecting part 16 with a mean line that is curved inwards and forms a loop. The said strands 14 and 15 are accordingly in contact along a generatrix 17, and the rounded part can form an internal gap 18. The volume, to a greater or lesser extent toroidal, formed in this way by the looped part of the braid is restrictly held in the housing bonded by the frus'to-conical surface 12 and the cylindrical surface 12', and a part 1 of the said looped part projects in relation to the extreme edge 29 of the body 19.

Braid 21 being supplied with ink, the application of the projecting part 19 onto a writing surface brings about the formation of a tracing.

The smoothness of the tracing is remarkable due in particular to the substantially tangential direction of the wires constituting the braid, in relation to the writing surface.

An extremely light pressure ensures the formation of a tracing, not only becauseof the direction of the wires in relation to the writing surface but also because the wires form little braided or plaited strands. Any encrustation of tracing substance that may occur is accordingly immediately broken up.

It has been confirmed that the writing implement of the invention can function excellently with very varied types of writing fluid, i.e. liquid ink or viscous ink.

Embodiments of the invention are provided in which the reserve ink is at a free level, and others in which the ink is contained in capillary means. In FIGURES 3 to 6 there is shown by way of example an embodiment of the writing implement of the invention with capillary means for the accumulation of the ink and of the capsule type. The capillary means, for example super-polyamide or nylon wire gauze, is contained in a cylindrical body 22 obturated by a stopper 23. The said body is extended by a part 24 of lesser diameter which has the bore 11 in which the two-strand braid 13 is housed, the rounded part 19 of which projects in relation to the narrowed point 33. The strands 14 and 15 are immersed in the capillary means 25, when the gauze is arranged in coil formation, the said strands 14 and 15 are simply disposed between the windings of the coil. The interstices left by the wires constituting the braid are narrower than those provided by the gauze forming the capillary means. An air inlet orifice 26 is provided on the shoulder 27 connecting the body 22 to the part 24 of lesser diameter.

The said capsule, incorporating the tracing point, is preferably used by being disposed in a body or shaft formed of two parts, i.e. a front part 28 and a rear part 29, which are connectable by a screw-thread 30 and a screw cutting 31, an annular surface 32 of the forward part 23 constitutinga stop member for the shoulder 27.

A body of this type can be equipped rapidly in succession with several capsules having inks of different colours.

Good results have been obtained with a braid of tergal with a diameter between 7 and 1 mm. for example, the wire being between 15 and 30 denier.

I claim: Y

1. A writing instrument for tracing purposes comprising a body having a tapered end, said body having an axial bore constituted by a cylindrical portion and an enlarged portion including a frusto-conical portion in prolongation of the cylindrical portion and widening towards the tapered end, and a continuous braided member in said bore having two strands in contacting relationship inside the cylindrical portion of the bore with a rounded loop portion connecting said strands, said loop portion having an internal gap accommodated in the enlarged portion and a part extending therefrom whereby the frusto-conical portion serves as a reaction surface which resists the pressure of the loop portion against the writing surface.

2. An instrument as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bore has a further cylindrical portion extending from the frusto-conical portion to open externally of the tapered end.

3. An instrument as claimed in claim 1 comprising a reservoir body communicating with the bore and a roll 4 of gauze inside the body having turns between which are positioned the strands of the braid extending from the bore.

4. An instrument as claimed in claim 1 wherein said body includes at its end opposite the tapered end a substantially cylindrical portion with a longitudinal flat surface, and a reservoir portion of greater diameter extending from the cylindrical portion and forming a shoulder therewith, a venting hole being provided at the shoulder adjacent said flat surface.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 562,659 6/1896 Pratt l5-563 2,466,785 4/ 1949 Schreyer 15563 3,221,361 12/1965 Cline 15563 1,603,842 10/ 1926 Colpe 15563 2,986,307 5/1961 Hillebrand 118268 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 155,648 3/ 1954 Australia.

ROBERT W. MICHELL, Primary Examiner. 

